God In Three Persons Live
God In 3 Persons - Live! is a live performance event adapting The Residents' 1988 album ''God In Three Persons''. The show debuted with a one-off performance at the Transpalette in Bourges, France, and is expected to continue with three shows at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on January 24th and 25th 2020. The show features a member of The Residents in the lead role of Mr. X, and the upcoming shows will co-star genderqueer performance artist Jiz Lee as the miracle-working conjoined twins. History Early attempts The Residents first considered creating a stage show based on their 1988 narrative concept album God In Three Persons shortly after its release, getting as far as composing an overture for the potential show, but abandoning the idea when they instead developed the three performances pieces which became the 1989 tour Cube-E. The unused "overture" to the show was released as "God In Three Person's Over" in 1989 on Buckaroo Blues. The idea to produce a theatrical version of the album remained unrealized for decades, with The Residents instead thinking "it would be a good movie".God In Three Personsat RZWeb President of The Cryptic Corporation, Homer Flynn, revealed that The Residents were working on a new live version of God In Three Persons in an interview in early 2016.THE RESIDENTS - in conversation with Jan Sneum - YouTube First performance A truncated preview of the show was performed by the group in association with Bandits-Mages on April 27th 2019 at the Transpalette in Bourges, France, with the Singing Resident in the lead role of Mr. X. Guest performers included long-time collaborator Joshua Raoul Brody, and various performers from The National Art School of Bourges. For this performance The Residents appeared in costumes similar to the ones worn during the Ghost of Hope performance in 2017. The show preceded the August release of the pREServed three-disc edition of the original God In Three Persons album. Museum of Modern Art performances The Residents performed the complete theatrical performance of God In Three Persons three times on January 24th and 25th 2020 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. These shows were announced alongside a crowdfunding campaign in October 2019, via Indiegogo. Supporters of the Indiegogo campaign received rewards including merchandise relating to the show, props from the Bourges performance, and tickets to an intimate dress rehearsal of the performance on January 18th 2020 at The Lab in San Francisco. The 2020 performances were more elaborate than the early version of the show seen in Bourges, featuring an entirely new version of God In Three Persons with orchestrations by Brody, and a method to perform in sync with three simultaneous video projections (with videos by artist John Sanborn). The new version of the show omits a number of songs originally included on the album, but opens with a new version of "God In Three Person's Over". The show also featured set and costume design by long-time Residents collaborator Leigh Barbier. Genderqueer performance artist Jiz Lee starred as the gender-fluid conjoined twins, and the show's narrator Mr. X was again portrayed by the Singing Resident. Concept God In Three Persons is a raucous musical composition, fashioned as a propulsive hard rock oratorio with a deep Southern twang. It is sung in a rhythmic spoken word style, similar to the talking blues, and driven by a bombastic and dynamic score derived, in large part, from the first few bars of the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy”. The lead character Mr. X narrates and is accompanied throughout by a chorus of voices, singing in high, nasal, “outsider country” harmonies. Beginning with a series of flashbacks, our unreliable narrator Mr. X tells us of his discovery of a pair of conjoined twins he believes to be miracle workers. As they tour the revival tent circuit, the relationship between the twins and Mr. X shifts from paternal to something more sinister, as he becomes convinced one of the twins desires him. Framed by folksy memories, Mr. X pretends that his lurid obsession was simply a regard for the health and safety of these faith healing twins, until his libido bursts like a flood swollen dam, causing a dire release and realignment of the twins’ connection. This staged version centers on a live vocalist (one of The Residents performing as the lead character Mr. X) shadowed by an onstage double. They perform inside an innovative series of video projections that depict the thoughts and desires of Mr. X and draws the audience inside his collapsing mental state. Oscillating in style from animated cartoon to film noir, the media staging seduces the viewer as it takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey into the darkest corners of human desire. Set list 2019 performance * Hard & Tenderly * The Thing About Them * Their Early Years * Confused (By What I Felt Inside) * Silver, Sharp and Could Not Care * Kiss of Flesh * Pain and Pleasure 2020 performances * God In Three Person's Over/Main Titles * Hard & Tenderly * Devotion? * The Thing About Them * The Touch * The Service * Confused (By What I Felt Inside) * Fine Fat Flies * Time * Silver, Sharp and Could Not Care * Kiss of Flesh * Pain and Pleasure Dates 2019 * April 27th 2019 - Transpalette Centre d'Art Contemporain, Bourges, France (preview) 2020 * January 18th 2020 - The Lab, San Francisco, California (dress rehearsal) * January 24th 2020 - Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York * January 25th 2020 - Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York (two shows) See also * God In Three Persons * Mr. X * The Twins * Randy Rose * Jiz Lee * Bandits-Mages * God In Three Person's Over References * Crowdfunding campaign at Indiegogo * Bandits-Mages Present The Residents * Bourges, France performance at Vimeo * The Residents Present God In Three Persons at MoMA Category:God In Three Persons Category:Live shows